Five years ago, one of the most heated debates in American education was about the science of reading. Advocates argued that decades of studies had identified the most effective ways to teach reading, which included teaching kids to sound out words using old-fashioned phonics, while emphasizing vocabulary and comprehension. Critics pushed back, saying that teachers should include the three-cueing method, which encourages students to guess words using pictures and context clues instead of sounding them out. School districts fought over curriculum. Parents packed school board meetings.

Today, a bipartisan group of six senators is trying to turn the ideas behind evidence-based reading instruction into federal policy. The group, led by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizonia), has introduced the Reading Excellence and Achievement for Development (READ) Act. The legislation–which includes the prospect for future federal funding but not any current dollars–is designed to strengthen reading instruction through teacher training, early screening for reading difficulties, improved classroom materials and extra support for students who fall behind.

The READ legislation is notable for what it signals: A once contentious education movement has moved into the mainstream. The question is no longer whether schools should embrace research-backed literacy reforms but whether they can put them into practice effectively.

“The science of reading movement has reached a tipping point, particularly in policy alignment,” Marisa Ramirez Stukey, chief academic officer at the national education nonprofit organization The Reading League, which promotes it, tells Forbes. “We’re finally moving from awareness to implementation.”

The READ Act defines science-of-reading instruction as teaching that explicitly develops foundational reading skills such as phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. The Act specifically rejects the use of the “three-cueing” model, which encourages students to guess words using pictures and context clues instead of sounding them out.

“Education changed my life,” Cassidy, a physician, told ABC News. “Education is the one great thing in our society that can take somebody and transform their future.”

Similarly, Kelly’s office framed literacy as a gateway to opportunity. “Senator Kelly couldn’t have worn the uniform for 25 years, flown to space four times, or served Arizona in the Senate without a good public education,” a spokesperson said in a statement to Forbes. “If we want kids to have a real shot, whether that’s joining the military, going into public service, or just building a good life, we have to invest in the teachers, parents, and schools helping them get there. They need a roadmap to success. That’s what the READ Act will help provide.”

According to a March 30 update from Education Week, 42 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws or implemented new policies related to evidence-based reading instruction since 2013. Many revised teacher-training requirements, expanded early literacy screening and encouraged the use of evidence-based instructional materials. And recent studies, including the latest Education Scorecard report, suggest some districts embracing these approaches are seeing stronger reading gains than many of their peers.

Ramirez Stukey says the bill’s greatest strength is that it attempts to align teacher preparation, classroom instruction, assessments and professional development around the same goal.

“What this act really has the potential to do is strengthen [that] ecosystem,” she says. “That makes it significantly more likely that our kids are going to have access to the kind of instruction that we want them to have."

Unlike earlier federal education initiatives, such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, which focused heavily on accountability and testing, “This act is really going to build on the work that’s already underway [in the states],” says Ramirez Stukey. “And fundamentally that’s what makes it completely different."

The legislation also places a significant emphasis on teacher preparation. States that want to receive READ Act funding for their school systems would be expected to review teacher-training programs, update teacher certification standards and expand professional development. The bill would also encourage universal literacy screening, including screening for dyslexia, and require schools to notify parents when students are identified as at risk for reading difficulties.

The bill would also put federal dollars behind many of those efforts by expanding the existing Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant program. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Education expected to award approximately $185 million in new literacy grants through the program. The new act does not specify a funding amount but authorizes future appropriations through 2035. If Congress sets aside money for the program, states receiving grants would be required to pass at least 75% of the funding on to local school districts to put these reforms into practice.

The bill faces the usual legislative hurdles in Congress, and it remains unclear whether it will receive a vote this session. In the meantime, the debate has prompted many families to take a closer look at how reading is taught in their children’s schools.

Questions That Can Help Parents Understand Reading Instruction

• What reading curriculum does the school use?
• How much time is devoted to literacy instruction each day?
• Does the school screen students for reading difficulties?
• What interventions are available when students fall behind?
• How are teachers trained in evidence-based literacy instruction?
• How does the school measure reading progress?

“Asking the right questions is really how we advocate for change,” says Ramirez Stukey.

The debate is not entirely settled. But if Congress’s latest literacy proposal is any indication, the national conversation has shifted. And five years after the COVID-19 pandemic set back the reading skills of many students, future students—and the teachers helping them learn to read—may ultimately come out ahead.

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